Is the Cajun restaurant still in the Gaslamp Quarter? I went a long time ago when I was going to a convention in the convention center and stayed at a hotel in the Quarter, not one of the giant ones. Cheaper and better. I loved that place.
It would not be much of a honeymoon without me! If you missed it, BlueKayak and I are to be married.
Tons of great suggestions here, but I’ll toss in another vote for Point Reyes. Nice little B&B’s or cottages nearby, close enough for day trips to the City or wine country. Easily worth a couple of days, but you have a short schedule. If you can’t make it this trip, plan on coming back here.
Highway 1 is the most beautiful road I have ever been on, and my recommendation is that you go slow and plan many returns. Santa Cruz is something magical and I recommend a week there. You’ve mentioned SF to SD. Be advised that that is a trip South. 1 also goes north and it is just as stunning. Next trip when you go North, I recommend four days in Mendocino (aka Cabot Cove from Murder She Wrote). It is a slice of heaven.
Oh, a convertible Mustang for $700 a week! This could be fun. (Did you know a Buick LaCrosse is listed as a ‘premium car’ by one company?)
Congratulations! 
I’m not sure. I’m not aware of a Cajun place… although i’m sure there are some!
Along these lines, if do the trip southbound, the sun will be a bit more in your face than if you drive northbound.
I think it’s best to drive PCH in a southerly direction. That way all of the scenic turnouts are on the right; it’s much easier to pull off and get back on the road.
I’d split the trip into these segments:
San Francisco - Days 1-3
SF to Monterey/Carmel - Day 4 (total drive time approximately 2.5 hours)
Monterey to San Luis Obispo/Morro Bay - Day 5 (total drive time 3 hours) and Day 6- Hearst Castle, wine country around Paso Robles, etc.
San Luis Obispo/Morro Bay to Santa Barbara - Day 7 (total drive time 2 hours)
Santa Barbara to San Diego - Day 8 (total drive time 4 hours) through Day 10
If you’d like more time in SD, I’d eliminate the stop in Santa Barbara, but that’s just me. The time spent actually driving is very low per day. That allows you to stop for everything that catches your eye. If you take the coast road (Hwy 1) you’ll have no problem finding stuff to stop for.
That was Bodega Bay. Located about 50 miles north of SF.
You’ll miss La Super Rica!
I think it’s funny that Los Angeles has hardly been mentioned so far. It’s a premier California destination, but you could give it a miss and not really miss anything.
Don’t forget a couple of Beach Boys CDs to set the perfect tone for a drive along the California coast.
If you are going to tolerate the mess that is LA and its traffic, then you had better get some benefit from it. PCH from Santa Monica to Seal Beach just doesn’t have enough of the charm found on the rest of Hwy 1 to justify taking that route. YMMV.
Personally, I’d say from Santa Monica, take 10 to 405 to 55 to Newport Beach.
That kind of thread comes up often. The problem is that no matter what you do in L.A. for a short visit, you absolutely will miss something.
So far, Paul and Kayak have given no real indication of their travel interests. When someone asks, “What should I do with two days in L.A.?” without giving their preferences, it’s a crap shoot to respond.
Many people don’t realize how huge the LA Basin is and how far apart the points of interest are. Seeing Universal Studios and Disneyland in the same weekend sounds like fun, but once you figure out the practicalities of it, it’s a crappy way to spend a weekend in “LA.”
But don’t dare listen before you pass Ventura :)- the music has as little to do with Northern or Central California as it has to do with the Dakotas. Grateful Dead and such are far more closely aligned with the SF/Big Sur parts of this trip.
Bump to link the following- I assumed you’d take Hwy 1 all or most of the way. Here’s an alternate route that takes 101. Check the links to Sunset Magazine.
Hwy 1 follows the cliffs at the edge of the ocean (literally at times), and it is much more windy and slow. 101 takes the “inland” route, averaging 20 miles from the coast. It travels through pretty hills and wine country. You can switch highways at 20 mile intervals, so if you start out on Hwy 1 (to see Monterey and Big Sur), it is easy to move to 101 to hit the wine country around Paso Robles (or if it’s too close to the cliffs for your comfort). Hwy 1 and 101 merge part of the way north of LA.
Just stay away from I-5. That is the fast, boring road.
Well I’m back with a trip report!
I drove Rt 1 south from Monterey and it was spectacular! Lots of places to pull off and take in the view, which I did several times. I made sure I had enough gas to get past Big Sur, which was a good thing because the few gas stops in that area charge about $6 / gal.
A bit north of Cambria I noticed some wildlife on the beach and then a parking area. Turns out I had come upon an elephant seal rookery! There were guides there and they were astonished to find I didn’t know about it and just happened to come along. Apparently people come from all over the world to see them.
Just past Cambria I turned inland and went through Paso Robles enroute to points south. I would have loved to spend more time on Rt 1 and stayed overnight somewhere, but unfortunately I was on a schedule.
San Diego was a lot of fun! I went to Hodad’s for lunch one day, and enjoyed walking the pier at Ocean Beach. And I spent a whole day at the San Diego Zoo, which was awesome! Also visited the Air & Space Museum, which was good, but a bit overpriced I think. They have a special space exhibit going which I didn’t find that good, only because I’m a space geek and have seen most of that stuff before.
I’ll be back!